King Kante

Yes, saying sell x, y, z is easy. However, the trick is finding someone to actually buy them!

Wait... George Benson is saying he will sign?!? It must be true!

Yeah, but according to some, we are wrong, Kepa was amazing last season and this is only a blip.

The problem was that the board did not adequately plan around what was happening with TC. Let's be honest, they had around 1-2 years to be scouting a GK before he left as he refused to sign an extension for ages (this should have made it clear he would leave sooner rather than later.) I have had a theory since the Summer 18 that what happened was Chelsea thought they had signed Alisson and for some reason it fell through (my guess here is that the Dipper's either went higher on the bid and we refused to match it or the Dipper's turned his head in some way.) This line of thinking is supported by Alisson, who said he was in negotiations with us, and TC who said he was told in March that he could leave (I believe him on this.) When the Alisson deal then fell through, Granny then tried to make TC stay (as there was no plan b ) and he said 'fuck you, Granny' at which point panic stations set in. From there, they then started scrambling around for a GK but were further boxed in as they; a) refused to do something like pay £10m to get a Cech/Foster etc elder statesmens in to cover our arse whilst we scouted a new GK. b ) they had left things super late (so no one who was established - Oblak etc - was going to move that late) c) we had either stopped scouting GK's with Alisson and/or hadn't been scouting GK properly. That then left the board/Granny to look at buy outs (Granny's fav type of transfer as she then does not have to negotiate) and they some how ended up at Kepa (at this point I have to suspect the use of hard drugs, say crack or acid.)

CB and GK have to be a priority over all other positions at this moment in time, and that includes LB. At this moment in time I would maybe even say two CB's and GK before LB. People go on about the Alonso last night but he was clearly told to push up and essentially become a LWF, so even if you improve that position the problem will still exist owing to the tactics/instructions. However, Kepa and our CB's have proven time and time again that they cannot do do the basics of defending or even pass properly, while the CB's are also not any good in the opposition boxes either (unlike Alonso who will at least get a lot of goals/assist relative to his position.) As for Harvetz, I would love him but when you have such arse clowns as Kepa and the CB's in your squad then you need to sort that first. At the moment people are saying play Zouma and yes he may be a little bit better than Rudiger, but lets also not forget that he is easily drawn out of position and has a habit of skying his clearances so it is not exactly as if he is a saviour in waiting, as we already know his level.

Agreed. My worry is that Derby suffered from these problems last season also, so he hasn't really learned his lesson. My ideal would be to get JT back as he has turned Mings into a very good CB. However, we all know that JT's political ambitions in the dressing room would possibly cause conflicts with Jody and SFL.

Nathan is apparently sold. £2.7m. https://www.google.com/amp/s/weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/platform/amp/2020/7/1/21310716/official-atletico-mineiro-sign-nathan-from-chelsea

Yeah, that or he is banging SFL's wife or something.

Yeah, I am not really getting why everyone is going crazy at Alonso, it is pretty obvious SFL had told him to go up the pitch. Essentially when we're chasing a game, Alonso is our version of sending up the CB to play CF, but in his case it is to go up from LB to LWF. The third goal was down to SFL's tactics and Rudiger's inability to defend. The second was AC deciding to give up defending and the first a dual award for Rudi (for giving the corner away) and Kepa for not controlling his six yard area/losing the flight of the ball yet again.

That and SFL needs to get a defensive coach in. Last season Derby were just as awful.

Actually it was 4 shots on goal 4 goals but we got bailed out by VAR.

Giroud really should have started this one, Tammy has been poor and that clearance at the end was a joke. CM is really poor today we either need Mount in to provide some industry or Jorgi to provide some guile (or both). On another note Rudiger is quickly becoming as disposable as Zouma for me.

Ah Kepa, apparently a GK with potential for some.

Yeah, I was slightly surprised too but then again Mount looked shagged out on Sunday so it may just be a rest.

Rudiger needs to become an agent when he retires.

Well if Alonso was a tad faster, then I think we wouldn't need a new FB as his lack of speed is a key issue to his brain farts as most of the time he does these as he is trying to scramble back. Telles is faster than him and a better crosser but is not as good at shooting as he is.

I think after his first six months there was a lot of buzz about him and the sense he was going to reach his potential. I mean at one point Bayern were linked (although mainly from BS artists.) I reckon Newcastle would've gone to about £15-20m (but this is guess work) but we thought he may be on the verge of pulling a Bale or something.

Telles is easily the most sensible buy. Low fee, currently on reasonable wages, right age profile and can deliver set pieces/crosses well from the left consistently. Not the greatest at defending but that is a trade off you have to accept with modern FB's as otherwise you get a Dave/AWB then everyone complains about their lack of ability in the final third.

The FSW said they wanted to buy but we quoted £30m or something. I am not normally one to believe transfer speculation but on that one I do believe Newcastle wanted to buy as it came from their manager.

Really should've sold Kenedy to Newcastle after his six month loan. Baba has been a lost cause ever since we brought him.

Really need to win this one. Brighton just rolled over for Utd yesterday, whilst VAR/the lineman also thought it was fine for a ball to go out of play prior to a Utd goal.

It really is the logo that kills these shirts off. I wouldn't say it is a great shirt but it is ok, the real problem is that the ridiculous 3 that makes then awful.

With the logo so big, Alonso is going to look like he is wearing and NFL jersey.

Well, if you look at my initial post, I categorised him under 'biggest waste of money' which meant that I was taking into consideration his fee. I clearly broke down the different areas you can categorise a player as a 'worst player/buy'. I haven't said he is the worst full stop. As for Onana and Henderson, I have personally touted neither. Henderson, I am not sold on as I find he can get beaten near post a lot and Onana is someone who I have seen a little of - he has looked decent enough if not a world beater - but has a massive problem with his ACoN comments. People say Kepa had a great season last season but I do not think he did. In fact, I would say this season he has been about the same, it is just last season we defended better. This is bourne out in his stats. Just because Chelsea fans where saying he had a great game (because that what fans do with new signings, whilst due to his saving technique he can make basic saves seem top notch) does not actually mean he was good. In fact, statistically he is doing better this year that last believe it or not. Actually, you will find in 1v1's the average conversion rate is around 50%, they are not nailed on goals. Kepa has about a 20% save rate. This is because he places himself in no-mans land as he doesn't commit himself to either closing down the space or guarding the goal (although he did close down the space against Sterling against City, which I give him a lot of credit for as that is what he should be doing all the time. Hopefully, that will prove a turning point.) As for the second Le Arse goal, I am sorry but any half decent PL GK should save that one. This is one of my principal issues with Kepa. A good/great GK bails out their defence when they make a mistake, with him everyone just says, 'oh, well his defence let him down'. No GK has a perfect defence which means that they do not have to face difficult shots, that is what they are meant to deal with when the defence makes a mistake. Kepa doesn't do this expect for very rare occasions like Fulham away last season and the SC against the Dippers. As for distribution, I wouldn't say he is great either. Both Ederson and Alisson are head and shoulders above him for sure. I mean this season, there have been a number of occasions where he has played us into serious trouble. The City home game and Everton away game are prime examples of this. I do not beat him up too much on this, as I think this happens to all GK's that get asked to play in such a way. However, his distribution if we are being honest is more Pickford level than Ederson/Alisson. As for his height, as I also said to Vesper, my comment was that in American sports they have a term that says 'you can't teach height and size'. This means I was criticising his wingspan (I do not think you'll argue he has short arms)/build as well as his height. Further, I also said this would not be such an issue if he has amazing skills elsewhere - shot stopping/controlling his area/instructing his defence/distribution etc. However, he doesn't. This means he cannot do what someone like Cech or TC does in that they make up for there weaker shot saving/distribution skills (neither were/are the best in the world at this) with completely dominating their area. Anyway, as I have said and given evidence for with the statistical break down. Kepa has been a poor GK for the past three seasons on virtually every metric you can statistically measure him on (except at Bilbao where it appears that he was good at cross collection.) This isn't me making it up or making him a 'strawman' this is true and I have provided the evidence for it. If you have counter statistical evidence and/or video footage that is not just an odd save here or there, then please share it and I would be more than happy to re-evaluate my position on him.

Problem with stats like that they do not take into consideration the quality of shots faced. The article that I posted above paints a much better picture of his performances since his last a Bilbao.